Our hearts are too broken to feel anything but pain.  Our ears are too filled with cries to hear the demands of compassion.  Our eyes are too dimmed by tears to see the face of the other.

Judaism teaches that the “no” might instead be the greater expression of our freedom. The kiddush blessing that we recite to welcome Shabbat praises this day as a “reminder of our going out from Egypt.” Only a free people can set a day aside. Only a free person can say no to the work week.

The rabbis decreed that every meal should be treated like a miracle. Every morsel is deserving of a blessing. They were intent on transforming the ordinary and making the everyday extraordinary. We recite the motzi and take the spiritual posture that God’s hand is decisive.

For darkness is not so much the absence of light but the absence of others. It is the darkening of our dreams and the obscuring of seeing others. It is the loss of being held by others and holding others. What makes us human is our need to be with others. One need only watch one of these fifteen reunions to understand this truth.

Shabbat arrives.  We then let go. We break free from these to do lists.  We are free.  We are blessed.  We are fortunate enough to take a day of rest when we look away from work’s claim on our lives.  We free ourselves from being slaves to time.

Difficulties are made more unbearable when leaders worry more about their own power rather than lightening the burdens of those they lead. Magicians focus on wowing the audience and impressing people with their greatness. Too often they make people’s burdens more unbearable.